L’economia politica di Roberto Michels negli anni torinesi - The Lectureship in Political Economy by Roberto Michels during His Turinese Period

Abstract

This paper reconstructs the lectureship in political economy awarded by the University of Turin in 1909 to Robert Michels who, some years after, became world-wide famous due to his La sociologia del partito politico nella democrazia moderna. The decision to award this lectureship was made by Achille Loria, who had a rather generous conception of the scope of political economy, against the advice of Luigi Einaudi who, notwhistanding his personal friendship with Michels, disliked the Michelsian mix between political economy and sociology. During his Torinese period, Michels published critical studies on cooperation as an alternative principle for economic organization and economic theory; the history of marxism; the history of political economy in Italy; and Italian colonialism. Last but not least, in his Sociologia there are also some hints on the economics of political phenomenon. Keywords: Robert Michels, Achille Loria, Cooperation, History of Marxism in Italy, Italian Imperialism